U.S. patent number 7,449,726 [Application Number 11/610,624] was granted by the patent office on 2008-11-11 for power semiconductor apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. Invention is credited to Hidetoshi Nakanishi, Taichi Obara, Toshitaka Sekine.
United States Patent |
7,449,726 |
Nakanishi , et al. |
November 11, 2008 |
Power semiconductor apparatus
Abstract
The power semiconductor apparatus includes a resin package made
up of a power semiconductor element and a control semiconductor
element which are mounted on a main front surface of a lead frame
and sealed with mold resin, a power terminal led out of the resin
package and electrically connected to the power semiconductor
element, a control terminal led out of the resin package and
electrically connected to the control semiconductor element and a
cylindrical case which is formed in a manner separable from the
resin package and encloses the resin package, wherein the power
terminal and the control terminal are led out of lead insertion
slots formed in the case, and a part of the power terminal which is
led out of the case is bent along an end face of the case.
Inventors: |
Nakanishi; Hidetoshi (Tokyo,
JP), Sekine; Toshitaka (Tokyo, JP), Obara;
Taichi (Tokyo, JP) |
Assignee: |
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
(Tokyo, JP)
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Family
ID: |
38259385 |
Appl.
No.: |
11/610,624 |
Filed: |
December 14, 2006 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20080017882 A1 |
Jan 24, 2008 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jul 18, 2006 [JP] |
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2006-196259 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
257/177;
257/E23.194; 257/E23.183; 257/E23.184; 257/E23.186; 257/E25.031;
361/704; 361/728; 257/E23.123; 257/723; 257/706; 257/675; 257/180;
257/150; 257/151; 257/178; 257/182; 257/692; 257/712; 257/787;
257/E23.124 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01L
25/165 (20130101); H01L 24/40 (20130101); H01L
23/562 (20130101); H01L 24/37 (20130101); H01L
24/73 (20130101); H01L 2224/73263 (20130101); H01L
2924/01013 (20130101); H01L 2924/01074 (20130101); H01L
2224/73221 (20130101); H01L 2224/40095 (20130101); H01L
2924/01023 (20130101); H01L 2924/13091 (20130101); H01L
2924/19041 (20130101); H01L 2224/48091 (20130101); H01L
24/45 (20130101); H01L 2924/01033 (20130101); H01L
2224/40245 (20130101); H01L 2924/1306 (20130101); H01L
2924/14 (20130101); H01L 2924/01006 (20130101); H01L
2224/48247 (20130101); H01L 2224/4826 (20130101); H01L
2224/45124 (20130101); H01L 2924/181 (20130101); H01L
2924/1305 (20130101); H01L 24/48 (20130101); H01L
2924/01082 (20130101); H01L 2924/01029 (20130101); H01L
2924/00014 (20130101); H01L 2924/13055 (20130101); H01L
2224/73265 (20130101); H01L 2224/37147 (20130101); H01L
2224/48091 (20130101); H01L 2924/00014 (20130101); H01L
2224/48247 (20130101); H01L 2924/13091 (20130101); H01L
2224/45124 (20130101); H01L 2924/00 (20130101); H01L
2924/1306 (20130101); H01L 2924/00 (20130101); H01L
2924/1305 (20130101); H01L 2924/00 (20130101); H01L
2924/00014 (20130101); H01L 2224/45099 (20130101); H01L
2924/181 (20130101); H01L 2924/00012 (20130101); H01L
2924/14 (20130101); H01L 2924/00 (20130101); H01L
2924/00014 (20130101); H01L 2224/84 (20130101); H01L
2224/37147 (20130101); H01L 2924/00014 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01L
31/0203 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;257/150,151,177,178,180,182,675,692-696,704,706,712,713,717,720,723,787,E25.031,E23.183,E23.184,E23.186,E23.123,E23.124
;361/704,709,723,728,813 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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62-79653 |
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Apr 1987 |
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JP |
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2001-85613 |
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Mar 2001 |
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JP |
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10-0536115 |
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Dec 2005 |
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KR |
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Primary Examiner: Tran; Minh-Loan
Assistant Examiner: Cruz; Leslie Pilar
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier
& Neustadt, P.C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A power semiconductor apparatus comprising: a resin package
including a power semiconductor element and a control semiconductor
element which are mounted on a main front surface of a lead frame
and sealed with mold resin; a power terminal leading out of said
resin package and electrically connected to said power
semiconductor element; a control terminal leading out of said resin
package and electrically connected to said control semiconductor
element; and a case which is formed in a manner separable from said
resin package and encloses said resin package, wherein said power
terminal and said control terminal are led out of lead insertion
slots formed in said case, and a part of said power terminal which
is led out of said case is bent along an end face of said case.
2. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said resin package further comprises a heat sink provided on a main
back surface of said lead frame and a part of an outside surface is
exposed from said resin package.
3. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
the peripheral edges of said heat sink protrude from peripheral
edges of an enclosure of said resin package and are engaged with
open end edges of said case.
4. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 2, wherein
the peripheral edges of said heat sink protrude from peripheral
edges of an enclosure of said resin package and are connected to
open end edges of said case using bolts.
5. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
between an inner wall of the case and an outer side of the mold
resin that forms the resin package, an open space is provided where
the mold resin is not in contact with the case.
6. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
at least one of the power terminal and the control terminal is led
out at the outer side from the mold resin into the open space.
7. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 5, wherein
at least one of the power terminal and the control terminal is not
in contact with the inner wall of the case.
8. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the peripheral edges of said heat sink protrude laterally from the
outer side of the mold resin.
9. The power semiconductor apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
the case has a cylindrical shape.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a case type power semiconductor
apparatus which encloses a power semiconductor element and a
control semiconductor element with a case, and more particularly,
to a power semiconductor apparatus providing excellent productivity
and moreover excellent recyclability which facilitates reuse of the
case.
2. Background Art
In recent years, there is a growing demand for IPM modularization
of an IGBT module (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) used for
industrial motor control and servo applications. Here, "IPM" is a
power module which incorporates a drive circuit and a self
protection function for a power device such as a MOSFET and IGBT
which controls power.
A mold type IPM is used for consumer applications. This mold type
IPM is made up of an IC and a power semiconductor chip (IGBT,
diode) which are die-mounted on a Cu frame and consolidated with
epoxy mold resin. There is also a proposal of a mold type IPM
provided with a heat sink to improve a heat radiation
characteristic (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
2001-085613).
On the other hand, a case type IPM is used as a small/medium
capacity industrial IPM (600V/50 A or above). FIG. 3 is a sectional
view showing a conventional case type IPM and FIG. 4 is a top view
thereof. An insertion case 1 incorporates an insulating substrate 4
mounted with an IGBT chip 2 and a diode 3 as power semiconductor
elements and a mounting substrate 5 mounted with a control IC as a
control semiconductor element, resistors and capacitors. These
components are connected to each other using Al wires 6.
Furthermore, the IGBT chip 2 and diode 3 are connected to the
outside through a power terminal 7 incorporated in the insertion
case 1. The mounting substrate 5 is connected to the outside
through a control terminal 8 incorporated in the insertion case 1.
Furthermore, a Cu base 9 is formed on the back side of the
insulating substrate 4 to radiate heat from the IGBT chip 2 and
diode 3. Moreover, case rings 10 are provided in the four corners
of the insertion case 1.
However, compared to the mold type IPM, the case type IPM includes
more parts and requires higher assembly cost, and is therefore
inferior in productivity. Furthermore, as in the case of the mold
type IPM, the case type IPM involves a problem that when the case
is filled with resin, the case cannot be reused.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been implemented to solve the above
described problems and it is an object of the present invention to
provide a case type power semiconductor apparatus providing
excellent productivity and excellent recyclability facilitating
reuse of the case.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the power
semiconductor apparatus includes a resin package made up of a power
semiconductor element and a control semiconductor element which are
mounted on a main front surface of a lead frame and sealed with
mold resin, a power terminal led out of the resin package and
electrically connected to the power semiconductor element, a
control terminal led out of the resin package and electrically
connected to the control semiconductor element and a cylindrical
case which is formed in a manner separable from the resin package
and encloses the resin package, wherein the power terminal and the
control terminal are led out of lead insertion slots formed in the
case, and a part of the power terminal which is led out of the case
is bent along an end face of the case.
The present invention makes it possible to realize a case type
power semiconductor apparatus providing excellent productivity and
excellent recyclability facilitating reuse of the case.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention
will appear more fully from the following description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a power semiconductor apparatus
according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a power semiconductor apparatus
according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a conventional case type
IPM.
FIG. 4 is a top view showing a conventional case type IPM.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
First Embodiment
FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a power semiconductor apparatus
according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A power
semiconductor element 12 such as an IGBT chip and diode and a
control semiconductor element 13 such as a control IC are mounted
on the main front surface of lead frames 11. These components are
electrically connected to each other through Al wires 14.
Furthermore, the power semiconductor element 12 is electrically
connected to a power terminal 16 through a Cu terminal 15 and the
control semiconductor element 13 is electrically connected to a
control terminal 17 through an Al wire 14.
A heat sink 19 is provided through an insulation sheet 18 on the
main back surface of the lead frame 11. A resin package 21 is
formed by sealing these components with mold resin 20. Furthermore,
the power terminal 16 and control terminal 17 are led out of the
resin package 21. A part of the outside surface of the heat sink 19
is exposed from the resin package 21. The heat radiation
characteristic of the resin package 21 can be improved by this heat
sink 19. More specifically, the heat resistance is 0.6.degree. C./W
at 600 V/50 A and it is possible to achieve heat resistance
substantially equivalent to that of the conventional case type IPM.
The heat sink 19 requires no fixing means.
The resin package 21 is enclosed by a cylindrical insertion case 22
made of plastic. The power terminal 16 and control terminal 17 are
led out of lead insertion slots 23 which are provided in the
insertion case 22. Moreover, the part of the power terminal 16
which is led out of the insertion case 22 is bent along the end
face of the insertion case 22. An outside wire (not shown) is made
to contact the bent part of this power terminal 16 and the two
parts are connected with a screw which penetrates the two
parts.
As explained above, partially adopting a mold type IPM structure
makes it possible to reduce assembly parts and reduce cost compared
to the conventional case type IPM and realize a power semiconductor
apparatus providing excellent productivity. Moreover, the power
semiconductor apparatus according to this embodiment has the same
locations of the power terminal and the control terminal as the
conventional case type IPM in appearance, which allows the customer
to handle the apparatus using the same assembly method as that for
the conventional case type IPM and eliminates the necessity for
modifying the apparatus.
Furthermore, by avoiding the mold resin 20 from filling the
insertion case 22, the insertion case 22 is made separable from the
resin package 21. In this way, when the power semiconductor element
12 and the control semiconductor element 13 or the like are
damaged, only the resin package 21 can be replaced. Therefore, it
is possible to realize a power semiconductor apparatus providing
excellent recyclability which makes reuse of the case easier.
Furthermore, peripheral edges of the heat sink 19 protrude from
peripheral edges of an enclosure of the resin package 21 and are
engaged with open end edges of the insertion case 22. This
eliminates the necessity for fixing means for fixing the resin
package 21 to the insertion case 22, and can thereby provide a
power semiconductor apparatus providing excellent assemblability,
that is, excellent productivity.
Embodiment 2
FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a power semiconductor apparatus
according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In this
embodiment, peripheral edges of a heat sink 19 protrude from
peripheral edges of an enclosure of a resin package 21 and are
connected to open end edges of an insertion case 22 using bolts 24.
The rest of the configuration is the same as that of Embodiment
1.
In this way, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and
provide a power semiconductor apparatus with excellent
assemblability, that is, excellent productivity. Furthermore, the
strength of mounting the resin package and the case is greater than
that of Embodiment 1.
Obviously many modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is
therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended
claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as
specifically described.
The entire disclosure of a Japanese Patent Application No.
2006-196259, filed on Jul. 18, 2006 including specification,
claims, drawings and summary, on which the Convention priority of
the present application is based, are incorporated herein by
reference in its entirety.
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